Jon McLaughlin is hoping that we can use the experience of March’s Checkatrade Trophy final against Portsmouth to help us overcome Charlton.
“We've gone to Wembley and had a taste of that, we know what it's all about, and hopefully we can use that experience,” said McLaughlin. “It was the same with Bradford, we lost the League Cup final but went on to win the play-offs. We'd had our Wembley experience, got all the stars in your eyes stuff out the way, and were really focused on the final. That’s why the celebrations weren’t crazy (at Portsmouth) when we won the game. Of course, we were delighted to get through such a test and give ourselves a shot, it’s big. But we know that we’ve achieved nothing so far. It’s going to be tough again. We know they’re a very good team. They’ve been tough games when we’ve played them. We’ve not lost though, so we know it'll be tough, but we’ve got enough in the locker to achieve what we want to achieve, which is promotion. If we don’t, it’ll be seen as a failure, we know that and understand the pressure of that, but we’ve got the opportunity to do it. If you can get through in the way we have, it’s probably better preparation than finishing third and having an easier run through,” he added. “Having got through against Portsmouth, hopefully it will get the lads right up for it. They know how tough it’s been so far. We’ve had to work really hard, and not been able to be complacent for a second. It'll give us a lot of confidence, and put us in a good place mentally.”
